New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-04-14
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
MRs cAMPBELUs BOOK.

MRA CAMPbELL6 bOOA.
ppyeovIpa OF POVERTY. Women wageWorkers'.
their Trades and thsir Lives BY HELEN CAMPBELL
i6mo, pp. 257 Roberts Brothers
1t is not necessary to say much to readers VI
TIE TRIBUNE in praise Of MIS- Campoehs T..
markable chapters on the labor question: "h,on
for several months formed feature OF Uhe oun""'
edition of ills paper. She has gwen US mus.
effective picture Of the condlt on OF New-ioih
worlin ,-women, because she has brousht 10 'ie
study Of the subject net only great care put "h'
common attitude. She has made close personal
invest ation extending apparently over a long
time. she has had the penetration to search many
oncer and dark corners which arc not often
thought of by sin liar explorers and we suspect
that unlike too many phlanthIoIists, The has the
faculty Of winning confidence and extracting tie
truth She IS sympathetic, but not a sentimental
isl: she app cciatcs exactncss in facts and igures
she can see both sides Of a question; and she mas
abundant common sense. In this, as in her o'her
hooks Mis-. Campbell rcCO gnizes that the lapor
problem" is not to be & Ned Off-hand. and thao
the remedies for the exist ing dsorders-If any rem
edics are to be found-will need years, PcrhaS
genera ions 10 take effect. At the same Time
sbo insists upon the personal duty Of individuals
TO help in the correction OF evils, each OF lis wlUh
our own sphere and she POINTS out many ways In
which piactc cal g oil can be done. Whatever
economists m " say about the general upward Ten
dency of wages and the decline in the cost OF
living it is Ilaiq f. om Mrs.. Camrbclfs story tfat
tie suifcrins of the woiling-women are incrcas-
ing. employment is bccCm ne more and more pre-
carious. and wages are decidedly falling. Here
we have one Of the most dsir ssing Signs OF over
population, and there is TO doubt that the clef
difficulty in Ilscos like New-YoriS a'lses from the
pressure of a greater number OF female workers
ban nd ron
New trades are constantly Opening 10 women,
but the extension OF opportunities probably Goes
not keep pace with the natural increase In inc
number of workers Moreover the decline IN
the cost of livi g. is in large part the result OIL
cutting down womens wages. In the industry
which engages the most female hands-wc mean
sowing-a fierce competition has sprung up among
dealers for the production of the cheapest "slop
goods and the cost Of every item has been re-
duocd TO the very lowest figure The sewing
woman is the sufferer by this system, but perhaps
her employer does not gain much by 1t. The
gamer is the purchaser OF the cheap goods, and
the purchasers gene ally Cf the working CLASS
So the sewing woman starves on the fourth hoof
in order that the shop-girl on the third may nave
a cheap wrapper and the Knight of Labor cheap
shirt Whichever way turn we find the poor
proving upon the poor. Mis-. Campbell tells
remarkable story Of benevolent manufacturer
who tried to better the condition Of his working
pecple and was foilcd in every essay by their
ignorance and wong headcdntss He found tha'
where men and women side by side were dong
The same tasks with tie same ability the women
were Ja;d a half a third less imam the men
To remove this injustice he raised the womcn's
wages without reducing The others. Ulon that
the men struck, not to get more for themselves
but against the increase to the women, and The
leader of the strike was the brother OF one OF
the women benefited. Instances like this Show
how much the worlling-people have to learn before
we can hope for any great improvement in their
condition We shall have to begin at the begin
MIN, and teach them.